CEDAR CITY, Utah -- With just over a week remaining in Spring Camp for the Thunderbirds, newly appointed defensive coordinator Brandon Fisher talked about his transition to Cedar City and what his experience with the team has been like so far.

Q: How has been the experience for you so far?

A: It's been fantastic, I've loved it. I'm having more fun just purely coaching football then I have at any level. It's kind of crazy to think there was eight days with the coaches and the players and then we were in to spring ball. I've been here four weeks now, we've been focusing on culture, energy, running to the ball and this group has answered. I know they're hungry after some of the bad breaks last season, this is a hungry group and they're fun to coach.

Q: What's been the biggest transition from coaching in the National Football League to college football?

A: Football wise, it's just ball. There's only so many things you can do with 11 guys and I'm asking the same thing of these guys that I asked of my players at the NFL level. The new thing for me is class schedules, grades and all the other distractions. I think it's harder for these guys, because in the NFL it's just pure football. We've got limited time with them, so we're asking a lot of them. I'd say it's the off the field stuff that's been the biggest adjustment for me.  

Q: How's it been working with Demario Warren so far?

A: It's fantastic. This being my first time at the college level I've been relying on him for answers. I try to bring a lot of ideas, but I don't have all the answers, so we're building this thing as a staff. He's had a lot of success running and playing a really good defense here, so a lot of these new college concepts I'm relying on him for answers. I'm trying to handle the culture, get them playing hard, and we're building this thing as a staff.

Q: What's your early assessment of the defense as a whole?

A: They're fun to coach and I really think they love ball. I don't have anything to base it off, I played in this conference forever but I've been removed from it for a while, so in terms of what kind of team we're going to be it's hard for me to tell but it's a fun group to coach. They love playing, they love each other, and at this point of the year that's all you can ask for.

Q: Circling back a little bit, you played in the Big Sky Conference at Montana and had a lot of success as a member of the Griz. What does it mean to be back in the league?

A: Some of my best memories of this game came from playing at Montana. I think it's special. It's pure football. This conference has a history of being really strong. I think my record at Montana we were 52-6 in four years, we had a really good run and lost a couple National Championships, but I've got a lot of coaches and friends that I played with or met along the way that are in this conference and a lot of people I'm looking forward to competing against. I can't wait.

Q: With just over a week left in spring what are you hoping to get accomplished with this defense?

A: We're starting to figure out our personnel, but we'll start looking at those second and third guys and see who can help us, who we can challenge and who can create competition and move up on the depth chart. The big thing at this point is we've gotten a lot of work done. We're not going to win any games in spring ball, but you can lose some, so we've got to be smart, keep guys healthy, protect each other, but still be able to compete.

SUU's annual Spring Game is scheduled for April 13 at 10 a.m.

Season tickets for the upcoming football campaign are available on www.tbirdtickets.com or at the America First Event Center Ticket Office.

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